Pill Popping

Just turn on the TV or look through a magazine and you will see that our society is full of messages trying to get people to pop a pill in order to solve a problem. From diseases, to dietary supplements to physical or sexual performance enhancers, there is a pill for just about everything. It is kind of nice to think that all we have to do is take a pill and all of our problems will go away. We want to escape the burden of having to work at something. That is one of the main reasons why I believe the modern American society is so pill crazy. But life is usually not that simple.

While there are legitimate uses and medial needs for certain drugs, many times we run to drugs when there better ways to address a problem. There is a terrible price for our pill popping habit. Sometimes we rob God of the opportunity to manifest a miracle. Sometimes we become dependent on a drug with unforeseen side effects.

I started thinking about this while listening to a speaker on illegal drugs at a recent meeting for parents with teenagers in my church. The speaker said that the culture has embraced prescription drugs and medication as a panacea offering solutions for many common problems. This has translated to a casual attitude toward drugs, including illegal narcotics, for many youth. They think, “Well if drugs help me focus in school and be more social, maybe they will help me be a better athlete or deal with my social problems.” And of course this lie is quickly followed by, “If one pill or hit works, then two or three works even better.”

The problem with illegal drugs, like many sins, is that you never know how many times it will take for you to become addicted. You never know when the substances could lead to an accident, brain damage or even death. Ultimately, these drugs offer what they can’t deliver. Like any lie, it has just enough truth in it to seem believable.

If we became less inclined to turn to drugs to fix everything would we see more miracles take place today? While I do believe that medicine itself is a gift from God, mankind has a tendency to corrupt what God intended for good. The answers to life and our problems cannot be found in pill. They are found in a person. And His name is Jesus.